Details of Thesis

Title

Lift Up Your Hearts: A Musico-liturgical
Study of the Eucharistic Prayer
of the Roman Rite

Author

Way, Anthony
David

Institution

Australian Catholic University

Date

2004

Abstract

It is a well established fact that the
practice of the eucharistic prayer in the roman, rite is seriously
underdeveloped. This survey of complete or partially through -composed
settings of the eucharistic prayer attempts to shed some light on why
and how composers have responded to the wide-spread opinion that the
eucharistic prayer is rarely experienced as the high point of the
eucharistic celebration as it was intended. Divided into two parts, the
study initially considers the official aims and norms of the post-conciliar
liturgy, both in general and as they pertain to the eucharistic prayer,
noting some tension between the aims and their realisation. Three broad
themes are identified for the entire work: ritual structure, the role of
music and participation. The texts of the eucharistic prayers are then
discussed to see how the official expectations are realised. A survey of
the theoretical writings on rnusic and the eucharistic prayer concludes
the first part. The second part focuses on over 100 musical settings,
both published and unpublished d the eucharistic prayer. After offering
a general chronological overview ofthe music, noting its forces
and general characteristics, the music is scrutinised to see whether its
various parts are celebrated or submerged by music, the broader shape of
the compositions is examined and then a discussion concerning
participation issues follows. The use of tabulated data aids the
discussion. While acknowledging that there are many ways to evaluate the
usefulness of such compositions and that this study does not touch on
their actual reception and performance, it is hoped the current work
will offer some insights into the variety of existing responses to the
challenge of the setting the eucharistic prayer and offer some
suggestions as to how this important work may continue.

Thesis

01front.pdf 153 Kb
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